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Professor Kersty Hobson
- Available for postgraduate supervision
Teams and roles for Kersty Hobson
Professor in Human Geography, Director of Learning and Teaching
Overview
Kersty Hobson's research focuses on issues of social and environmental transformation, particularly in the fields of sustainable production and consumption, and multi-level environmental governance.Before moving to Cardiff University in 2015, she held academic positions at the University of Birmingham, the Australian National University, and the University of Oxford, where her research has examined household sustainability practices; environmental non-governmental organizations; animal geographies; as well as climate change governance and public deliberation. Her current research focuses on the socio-political implications of, and challenges for, the circular economy agenda.
The above interests are also part of a committment to encouraging institutional change towards greater sustainabilty within Cardiff University. In line with this, Kersty is:
- Cardiff University lead on the ‘Safeguarding the Environment’ theme, as part of the Cardiff University- Amgueddfa Cymru Partnership
- School representative in the University ‘Education for Sustainable Development’ Steering Group
- Sustainability Lead in the School of Geography and Planning
- Chair of the University Business Travel Task and Finish Group
Publication
2025
- Dias, S. et al., 2025. Everyday circularities: Perspectives from the Global South [Discussion]. Consumption and Society 4 (2), pp.316-324. (10.1332/27528499Y2025D000000047)
- Greene, M. and Hobson, K. 2025. Everyday circularities: rethinking consumption in circular transformations [Editorial]. Consumption and Society 4 (2), pp.158-169. (10.1332/27528499Y2025D000000052)
- Junker, M. et al. 2025. Pathways to nature connection? A photo-elicitation exploration on how children engage with a nature connection programme.. Environmental Education Research
- Williams, J. and Hobson, K. 2025. Climate change and low-carbon field research. In: Hammett, D. and Holmes, N. eds. The Routledge Handbook of Field Research. Routledge(10.4324/9781003404903-7)
2024
- Greene, M. , Hobson, K. and Jaegar-Erben, M. 2024. Bringing the circular economy home - Insights from socio-technical perspectives on everyday consumption. Cleaner and Responsible Consumption 12 100157. (10.1016/j.clrc.2023.100157)
- Hobson, K. 2024. Sustainability. In: Dombroski, K. et al., Introducing Human Geographies. Routledge. , pp.561-573. (10.4324/9780429265853-49)
- Hobson, K. and O'Byrne, M. 2024. Sharing and repairing at university: on student practices, and the future of the circular campus. Circular Economy and Sustainability 4 (4), pp.2579-2598. (10.1007/s43615-024-00403-4)
- Hobson, K. and O'Byrne, M. 2024. What is the university for these days? Rethinking the foundations of the 'circular campus'. Journal of Circular Economy 2 (1), pp.1-13. (10.55845/BDCU6970)
2023
- Hobson, K. 2023. Business origami! Piecing together product life cycles in the product-service system. In: Fischer, D. et al., Teaching and Learning Sustainable Consumption: A Guidebook.. Abingdon: Routledge. , pp.308-311. (10.4324/9781003018537-53)
- Leipold, S. et al., 2023. Lessons, narratives and research directions for a sustainable circular economy. Journal of Industrial Ecology 27 (1), pp.6-18. (10.1111/jiec.13346)
2022
- Aiken, G. T. et al., 2022. Vicarious scale and instrumental imaginaries in community sustainable transitions. Global Environmental Change 75 102543.
2021
- Hobson, K. 2021. The limits of the loops: critical environmental politics and the Circular Economy. Environmental Politics 30 (1-2), pp.161-179. (10.1080/09644016.2020.1816052)
- Hobson, K. et al. 2021. Consumption work in the circular economy: a research agenda. Journal of Cleaner Production 321 128969. (10.1016/j.jclepro.2021.128969)
2020
- Hobson, K. 2020. From circular consumers to carriers of (unsustainable) practices: socio-spatial transformations in the Circular City. Urban Geography 41 (6), pp.907-910. (10.1080/02723638.2020.1786329)
2019
- Bridgens, B. et al., 2019. Closing the loop on e-waste: a multidisciplinary perspective. Journal of Industrial Ecology 23 (1), pp.169-181. (10.1111/jiec.12645)
- Hobson, K. 2019. 'Small stories of closing loops': social circularity and the everyday circular economy. Climatic Change 163 , pp.99-116. (10.1007/s10584-019-02480-z)
2017
- Hobson, K. et al. 2017. Systems of practice and the circular economy: transforming mobile phone product service systems. Environmental Innovation and Societal Transitions 26 , pp.147-157. (10.1016/j.eist.2017.04.002)
- Wonneck, L. and Hobson, K. 2017. Practice-based spill-over effects: evidence from Calgary’s municipal food and yard waste recycling pilot. Canadian Geographer / Geographie Canadien 61 (3), pp.415-427. (10.1111/cag.12391)
2016
- Hobson, K. 2016. Closing the loop or squaring the circle? Locating generative spaces for the circular economy. Progress in Human Geography 40 (1), pp.88-104. (10.1177/0309132514566342)
- Hobson, K. , Hamilton, J. and Mayne, R. 2016. Monitoring and evaluation in UK low-carbon community groups: benefits, barriers and the politics of the local. Local Environment 21 (1), pp.124-136. (10.1080/13549839.2014.928814)
- Hobson, K. and Lynch, N. 2016. Diversifying and de-growing the circular economy: radical social transformation in a resource-scarce world. Futures 82 , pp.15-25. (10.1016/j.futures.2016.05.012)
- Hobson, K. , Mayne, R. and Hamilton, J. 2016. Monitoring and evaluating eco-localisation: lessons from UK low carbon community groups. Environment and Planning A 48 (7), pp.1393-1410. (10.1177/0308518X16640531)
2013
- Hobson, K. 2013. On the making of the environmental citizen. Environmental Politics 22 (1), pp.56-72. (10.1080/09644016.2013.755388)
- Hobson, K. 2013. ‘Weak’ or ‘strong’ sustainable consumption? Efficiency, degrowth, and the 10 Year Framework of Programmes. Environment and Planning C: Government and Policy 31 (6), pp.1082-1098. (10.1068/c12279)
- Hobson, K. and Niemeyer, S. 2013. "What sceptics believe": the effects of information and deliberation on climate change scepticism. Public Understanding of Science 22 (4), pp.396-412. (10.1177/0963662511430459)
2011
- Cook, I. et al., 2011. Geographies of food: 'Afters'. Progress in Human Geography 35 (1), pp.104-120. (10.1177/0309132510369035)
- Hobson, K. and Niemeyer, S. 2011. Public responses to climate change: The role of deliberation in building capacity for adaptive action. Global Environmental Change 21 (3), pp.957-971. (10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2011.05.001)
2010
- Hobson, K. 2010. Beyond the control society. Administrative Theory and Praxis 32 (2), pp.252-261. (10.2753/ATP1084-1806320207)
2009
- Hobson, K. 2009. On a governmentality analytics of the 'deliberative turn': material conditions, rationalities and the deliberating subject. Space and Polity 13 (3), pp.175-191. (10.1080/13562570903454283)
- Hobson, K. 2009. On the modern and the nonmodern in deliberative environmental democracy. Global Environmental Politics 9 (4), pp.64-80. (10.1162/glep.2009.9.4.64)
2008
- Hobson, K. 2008. Reasons to be cheerful: thinking sustainably in a (climate) changing world. Geography Compass 2 (1), pp.199-214. (10.1111/j.1749-8198.2007.00085.x)
2007
- Hobson, K. 2007. Political animals? On animals as subjects in an enlarged political geography. Political Geography 26 (3), pp.250-267. (10.1016/j.polgeo.2006.10.010)
2006
- Hobson, K. 2006. Bins, bulbs, and shower timers: on the 'techno-ethics' of sustainable living. Ethics Place and Environment 9 (3), pp.317-336. (10.1080/13668790600902375)
- Hobson, K. 2006. Enacting environmental justice in Singapore: performative justice and the Green Volunteer Network. Geoforum 37 (5), pp.671-681. (10.1016/j.geoforum.2005.08.004)
- Hobson, K. 2006. Environmental psychology and the geographies of ethical and sustainable consumption: aligning, triangulating, challenging?. Area 38 (3), pp.292-300. (10.1111/j.1475-4762.2006.00669.x)
- Hobson, K. 2006. Environmental responsibility and the possibilities of pragmatist-orientated research. Social & Cultural Geography 7 (2), pp.283-298. (10.1080/14649360600600734)
2005
- Niemeyer, S. , Petts, J. and Hobson, K. 2005. Rapid climate change and society: assessing responses and thresholds. Risk Analysis 25 (6), pp.1443-1456. (10.1111/j.1539-6924.2005.00691.x)
2004
- Hobson, K. 2004. Sustainable consumption in the United Kingdom: the "responsible" consumer and government at "arm's length". Journal of Environment and Development 13 (2), pp.121-139. (10.1177/1070496504265013)
2003
- Hobson, K. 2003. Thinking habits into action: the role of knowledge and process in questioning household consumption practices. Local Environment 8 (1), pp.95-112. (10.1080/135498303200041359)
2002
- Hobson, K. 2002. Competing discourses of sustainable consumption: does the 'rationalisation of lifestyles' make sense?. Environmental Politics 11 (2), pp.95-120. (10.1080/714000601)
Articles
- Aiken, G. T. et al., 2022. Vicarious scale and instrumental imaginaries in community sustainable transitions. Global Environmental Change 75 102543.
- Bridgens, B. et al., 2019. Closing the loop on e-waste: a multidisciplinary perspective. Journal of Industrial Ecology 23 (1), pp.169-181. (10.1111/jiec.12645)
- Cook, I. et al., 2011. Geographies of food: 'Afters'. Progress in Human Geography 35 (1), pp.104-120. (10.1177/0309132510369035)
- Dias, S. et al., 2025. Everyday circularities: Perspectives from the Global South [Discussion]. Consumption and Society 4 (2), pp.316-324. (10.1332/27528499Y2025D000000047)
- Greene, M. and Hobson, K. 2025. Everyday circularities: rethinking consumption in circular transformations [Editorial]. Consumption and Society 4 (2), pp.158-169. (10.1332/27528499Y2025D000000052)
- Greene, M. , Hobson, K. and Jaegar-Erben, M. 2024. Bringing the circular economy home - Insights from socio-technical perspectives on everyday consumption. Cleaner and Responsible Consumption 12 100157. (10.1016/j.clrc.2023.100157)
- Hobson, K. 2010. Beyond the control society. Administrative Theory and Praxis 32 (2), pp.252-261. (10.2753/ATP1084-1806320207)
- Hobson, K. 2006. Bins, bulbs, and shower timers: on the 'techno-ethics' of sustainable living. Ethics Place and Environment 9 (3), pp.317-336. (10.1080/13668790600902375)
- Hobson, K. 2016. Closing the loop or squaring the circle? Locating generative spaces for the circular economy. Progress in Human Geography 40 (1), pp.88-104. (10.1177/0309132514566342)
- Hobson, K. 2002. Competing discourses of sustainable consumption: does the 'rationalisation of lifestyles' make sense?. Environmental Politics 11 (2), pp.95-120. (10.1080/714000601)
- Hobson, K. 2006. Enacting environmental justice in Singapore: performative justice and the Green Volunteer Network. Geoforum 37 (5), pp.671-681. (10.1016/j.geoforum.2005.08.004)
- Hobson, K. 2006. Environmental psychology and the geographies of ethical and sustainable consumption: aligning, triangulating, challenging?. Area 38 (3), pp.292-300. (10.1111/j.1475-4762.2006.00669.x)
- Hobson, K. 2006. Environmental responsibility and the possibilities of pragmatist-orientated research. Social & Cultural Geography 7 (2), pp.283-298. (10.1080/14649360600600734)
- Hobson, K. 2020. From circular consumers to carriers of (unsustainable) practices: socio-spatial transformations in the Circular City. Urban Geography 41 (6), pp.907-910. (10.1080/02723638.2020.1786329)
- Hobson, K. 2009. On a governmentality analytics of the 'deliberative turn': material conditions, rationalities and the deliberating subject. Space and Polity 13 (3), pp.175-191. (10.1080/13562570903454283)
- Hobson, K. 2013. On the making of the environmental citizen. Environmental Politics 22 (1), pp.56-72. (10.1080/09644016.2013.755388)
- Hobson, K. 2009. On the modern and the nonmodern in deliberative environmental democracy. Global Environmental Politics 9 (4), pp.64-80. (10.1162/glep.2009.9.4.64)
- Hobson, K. 2007. Political animals? On animals as subjects in an enlarged political geography. Political Geography 26 (3), pp.250-267. (10.1016/j.polgeo.2006.10.010)
- Hobson, K. 2008. Reasons to be cheerful: thinking sustainably in a (climate) changing world. Geography Compass 2 (1), pp.199-214. (10.1111/j.1749-8198.2007.00085.x)
- Hobson, K. 2019. 'Small stories of closing loops': social circularity and the everyday circular economy. Climatic Change 163 , pp.99-116. (10.1007/s10584-019-02480-z)
- Hobson, K. 2004. Sustainable consumption in the United Kingdom: the "responsible" consumer and government at "arm's length". Journal of Environment and Development 13 (2), pp.121-139. (10.1177/1070496504265013)
- Hobson, K. 2021. The limits of the loops: critical environmental politics and the Circular Economy. Environmental Politics 30 (1-2), pp.161-179. (10.1080/09644016.2020.1816052)
- Hobson, K. 2003. Thinking habits into action: the role of knowledge and process in questioning household consumption practices. Local Environment 8 (1), pp.95-112. (10.1080/135498303200041359)
- Hobson, K. 2013. ‘Weak’ or ‘strong’ sustainable consumption? Efficiency, degrowth, and the 10 Year Framework of Programmes. Environment and Planning C: Government and Policy 31 (6), pp.1082-1098. (10.1068/c12279)
- Hobson, K. , Hamilton, J. and Mayne, R. 2016. Monitoring and evaluation in UK low-carbon community groups: benefits, barriers and the politics of the local. Local Environment 21 (1), pp.124-136. (10.1080/13549839.2014.928814)
- Hobson, K. et al. 2021. Consumption work in the circular economy: a research agenda. Journal of Cleaner Production 321 128969. (10.1016/j.jclepro.2021.128969)
- Hobson, K. et al. 2017. Systems of practice and the circular economy: transforming mobile phone product service systems. Environmental Innovation and Societal Transitions 26 , pp.147-157. (10.1016/j.eist.2017.04.002)
- Hobson, K. and Lynch, N. 2016. Diversifying and de-growing the circular economy: radical social transformation in a resource-scarce world. Futures 82 , pp.15-25. (10.1016/j.futures.2016.05.012)
- Hobson, K. , Mayne, R. and Hamilton, J. 2016. Monitoring and evaluating eco-localisation: lessons from UK low carbon community groups. Environment and Planning A 48 (7), pp.1393-1410. (10.1177/0308518X16640531)
- Hobson, K. and Niemeyer, S. 2011. Public responses to climate change: The role of deliberation in building capacity for adaptive action. Global Environmental Change 21 (3), pp.957-971. (10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2011.05.001)
- Hobson, K. and Niemeyer, S. 2013. "What sceptics believe": the effects of information and deliberation on climate change scepticism. Public Understanding of Science 22 (4), pp.396-412. (10.1177/0963662511430459)
- Hobson, K. and O'Byrne, M. 2024. Sharing and repairing at university: on student practices, and the future of the circular campus. Circular Economy and Sustainability 4 (4), pp.2579-2598. (10.1007/s43615-024-00403-4)
- Hobson, K. and O'Byrne, M. 2024. What is the university for these days? Rethinking the foundations of the 'circular campus'. Journal of Circular Economy 2 (1), pp.1-13. (10.55845/BDCU6970)
- Junker, M. et al. 2025. Pathways to nature connection? A photo-elicitation exploration on how children engage with a nature connection programme.. Environmental Education Research
- Leipold, S. et al., 2023. Lessons, narratives and research directions for a sustainable circular economy. Journal of Industrial Ecology 27 (1), pp.6-18. (10.1111/jiec.13346)
- Niemeyer, S. , Petts, J. and Hobson, K. 2005. Rapid climate change and society: assessing responses and thresholds. Risk Analysis 25 (6), pp.1443-1456. (10.1111/j.1539-6924.2005.00691.x)
- Wonneck, L. and Hobson, K. 2017. Practice-based spill-over effects: evidence from Calgary’s municipal food and yard waste recycling pilot. Canadian Geographer / Geographie Canadien 61 (3), pp.415-427. (10.1111/cag.12391)
Book sections
- Hobson, K. 2023. Business origami! Piecing together product life cycles in the product-service system. In: Fischer, D. et al., Teaching and Learning Sustainable Consumption: A Guidebook.. Abingdon: Routledge. , pp.308-311. (10.4324/9781003018537-53)
- Hobson, K. 2024. Sustainability. In: Dombroski, K. et al., Introducing Human Geographies. Routledge. , pp.561-573. (10.4324/9780429265853-49)
- Williams, J. and Hobson, K. 2025. Climate change and low-carbon field research. In: Hammett, D. and Holmes, N. eds. The Routledge Handbook of Field Research. Routledge(10.4324/9781003404903-7)
Research
Kersty is currently Co-Investigator on the EPSRC-funded project BuildZero, which will run until 2029. This is an interdisciplinary project which will integrate new knowledge from engineering, industrial ecology, and social science to develop a systems model of the UK's buildings. For more information see https://sites.google.com/sheffield.ac.uk/buildzero/about-the-project
Past funded projects have included:
- Cardiff University ‘Innovation for all’ funded project called Sharing and repairing: exploring the Circular Economy in the Higher Education Context
- EPSRC-funded project CLEVER (Closed Loop Emotionally Valuable E-waste Recovery)
- ESRC-funded Knowledge Exchange project called 'Monitoring and Evaluation for Sustainable Communities'.
- Australian Research Council Discovery Award ‘Social Adaptation to Climate Change in the Australian Public Sphere.'
Teaching
Kersty is currently the Director of Learning and Teaching in the School of Geography and Planning, having served in past as both Director of Undergraduate Studies and Course Director for the MSc Sustainability, Planning and Environmental Policy.
Supervisions
I am interested in supervising PhD students in the areas of:
- sustainable production: the circular economy and product service systems
- sustainable consumption
- environmental politics and decision-making
- sustainability transitions
Current supervision
Contact Details
[email protected]
+44 29206 88682
Glamorgan Building, Room Room 1.64, King Edward VII Avenue, Cardiff, CF10 3WA
+44 29206 88682
Glamorgan Building, Room Room 1.64, King Edward VII Avenue, Cardiff, CF10 3WA
Research themes
Specialisms
- circular economy
- Sustainable Consumption
- sustainable universities
- participatory methodologies
- environmental governance
